The Philadelphia Eagles kicked off training camp without starting linebacker Nakobe Dean, who was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list with a knee injury.
While Dean's absence will be missed until he is cleared to return, head coach Nick Sirianni remains optimistic about the rest of the linebacker room and the coaches they have in place to develop them.
"I’m excited about that entire room," Srianni said. "It’ll be fun to get out there and compete, and that’s what it is. That’s what training camp is, competition, competing every day. That’s what the season is. It’s great preparation for the season when you’re competing your butt off to get ready to play each game and during each game. So I’m really excited about that room."
Without Dean, that means more first-team reps for the younger guys like second-year Jeremiah Trotter Jr., rookie Smael Mondon, and, especially, 2025 first-round pick Jihaad Campbell.
"You got some guys back for their second, third year, but then you also got some young guys that I’m really excited about to see, and I know [Inside Linebackers Coach] Bobby King and [Assistant Linebackers Coach] Ronell [Williams] will do a great job,"Sirianni continued. "Obviously, the linebacker position is [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio’s] specialty as well. He’ll have his hands all over that as well, and excited to see how these guys develop.
"That’s our job. [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] gets us great players, and you can’t be great without great players, that’s for sure. But our job is to develop them to become even better players through their fundamentals, through their awareness of the offense and the defense, through their situational football awareness. So that’s what this time’s for."
